AVBC - Sunday 01/18/26 - Sermon Title: “A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven” - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

 Sunday 01/18/26 – Adams Village Baptist Church

Sermon Title: “A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

          I have a question for us to consider this morning. The question is this, why is there so much suffering on this earth? Why can there be so much suffering here in Adams, and in this area? Yet, at the same time there is also immense joy, love, hope, etc. on this earth. Once again though, there is also sickness, tragedy, and suffering. Why is this, and where is God in the midst of all of this? Have we ever asked or pondered any of these questions?

          Of all of the struggles that I have seen people have in my years of ministry, suffering tends to be the hardest struggle. When someone gets sick, when someone dies suddenly, and so on, and so forth. I have had people ask me questions like, “Pastor Paul if there really is a loving God, then why did, “fill in the blank,” happen?” Sometimes painful and hard things happen, and this can cause us to grieve, to wrestle with ourselves, and sometimes to wrestle with God. We want to understand, we want answers sometimes. In fact, in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, Jacob wrestled with God all night long, until God agreed to bless him. It is the idea that we are called to cling to God, to know God more deeply, and to trust God with our lives, our blessings, and our hope.

          Jesus reminds us in the gospel of John 16:33:

³³ I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’                                   (Jn. 16:33, NRSV) 

Unfortunately, to be in this world is on some level to know suffering. We all have, are, or will suffer at some point.

          In fourteen years of ministry, while I have done more funerals, celebrations of life, and memorial services than I can count, I have only, however, had to officiate a funeral for a child once. This child was only six years old. She was sick, and her death was sudden and unexpected. Her mother, as you can imagine, was beside herself. I mean what do you say to a parent in this situation?

          This child had special needs and had an assortment of disabilities, yet her and her family often came to the church that I was serving at the time. While the family never joined the church that I was serving at the time, they considered that church their family’s church, and they considered me to be their pastor. In fact, they told this to everyone in the community.

          Yet when this lovely little girl died, I heard many of the usual questions that I have often heard, such as, “Why would God let a sweet small child die?” I also heard, “What kind of loving God would let this happen?” Emotions can run high in situations like this, and when I was asked as the pastor, “Pastor Paul, why did this happen?” When I was asked these questions by the child’s grieving mother, it took off all my energy not burst into tears. I teared up, I looked in the eyes of this young grieving mother, and I told her, “I don’t fully understand why this happened, but what is keeping me together right now, is believing that your daughter is in the arms of Jesus.”

          In fact, I did a little digging, and I was able to locate a beautiful portrait of Jesus hugging a little girl. Here is the actual picture:

(Show Picture of Jesus A Little Girl)

          When I saw this portrait on canvas, I bought one and a hanger for this grieving mother. When I got to the funeral home for the day of the service, the young mother was on a couch in the room that the services are conducted in. She was sitting on a couch and looked broken and in shock. After telling this mother that I envisioned on that day her daughter in the arms of Jesus, I then gave her the picture of canvas print.

What did I not do? I did not tell the mother that “I understand,” because I did not. I did not tell the mother that “I’m so sorry for your loss.” What I did say though, is “you are loved and your prayed for, and many love you and are praying for you.” “We are here for you.” I mean I did not understand, and I did not apologize, because I did not think that would help. Yet, the world that we live in here on earth is far from perfect. This world has many wonderful things, and so much love, and so much to be in awe and wonder of.

Since all this is true then, how do we balance all of this with the good on this earth? To some extent this is what our scripture from the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 for this morning is telling us and reminding us. In fact, early on when I was a pastor, I called my then mentor pastor and told him that I had been helping so many suffering people that I was pastoring. By this, I mean struggles and hurts that I was helping people to walk through, with God’s help. I then told him that somedays I was just tired of suffering. At this he laughed loudly, and I was little taken a back. He then said that if I did not like suffering to pick a different religion, because Jesus suffered for us all. We live in a world that is so often so broken and so fallen. We get to decide every day how we love and treat each other, but what do we do when really terrible things happen? Do we blame God? Do we blame each other? Do we struggle? Do we ask tough questions?

In looking at our reading from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 for this morning, it says, once again:

Everything Has Its Time

3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace (Ecc. 3:1-8, NRSV).

          Maybe in our own lifetimes, we have experience most or all of this list. Is it not so incredible that we can go through such sorrow, and yet sometimes have such much joy. I truly believe that the grief, the sorrow, and the suffering that we have experienced, and may one day experience again, can be used by God to make us more loving, more compassionate, and more caring for others. For when we know pain and suffering, then we can relate even more to the suffering and the brokenness of this world.

          Given all this though, how can we apply Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 to our lives today and going forward? Further, how can we take this sermon and this time of worship out into Adams and the world? How can we ask to continue to transform us, and how can the Holy Spirit use us to transforms others in Christ.

          Here are some thoughts and application points of how we can do all of these things:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 means there's a divinely appointed time for every event and emotion in life, highlighting life's cyclical nature and God's ultimate control over seasons of joy, sorrow, life, death, peace, and war, teaching patience and acceptance of this divine order. This passage presents contrasting pairs (like birth/death, weeping/laughing) to show the spectrum of human experience, reminding us to find meaning and make wise choices within God's perfect, though often mysterious, timing.

Key Themes & Meanings

• Divine Timing & Sovereignty: God sets the schedule for everything; there's a right moment for every action, even seemingly contradictory ones like killing and healing, or loving and hating. 

• Cycles of Life: Life isn't static but moves in patterns—planting and harvesting, building and tearing down, mourning and dancing.

• Human Limitations: While we experience these seasons, we lack ultimate control over their timing, which fosters humility and reliance on God.

• Acceptance & Wisdom: The passage encourages acceptance of life's ups and downs, trusting that God makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and seeking wisdom to discern our role in each season.

• Context of "Under the Sun": The phrase "under heaven" or "under the sun" frames these observations as earthly realities, emphasizing the transient nature of life's events. 

Examples of Life's Seasons

• A time to be born, and a time to die
• A time to plant, and a time to pluck up
• A time to weep, and a time to laugh
• A time to kill, and a time to heal
• A time to tear down, and a time to build up
• A time for war, and a time for peace 

In essence, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 teaches that life's complexities are part of God's sovereign plan, urging people to find purpose and peace by aligning with His purposeful timing rather than fighting against the inevitable flow of life's varied seasons. 

          In bringing this message to a close, it was recommended to me that I play a song for us that talks specifically about Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. This song is called “Turn! Turn! Turn!” By the Byrds. This video has pictures and words, that hopefully brings Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 home. When I showed this video to my mom, her response was, “Far Out.” So, I think she likes the video, but I am not one hundred percent sure on this. Let us watch this video together:

(Show Video - “Turn! Turn! Turn!” By the Byrds)

          Brothers and sisters, friends, there is a time for every purpose under heaven. We do not always understand, we sometimes do not like it, but we know that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. We know that through Jesus we offered eternal life if we repent of our sin and shame and turn to Him. We know that God is real, as we have experienced God, and have felt the Holy Spirit.

          What we can do, is continue daily to seek Christ, continue to serve Christ, to love others, to be healers, to be restorers, and be people that bring joy, hope, and mercy. We can do all of this, knowing that the day that Christ returns, the world will be as it is heaven, and there will be no more sorrow or hard seasons. So, until Jesus comes to be with us, or until we go to be with Jesus, as Christians, as brothers and sisters in Christ, you know what we do? We laugh together, we pray together, we cry together, we rejoice together, and we build each other up.

Jesus gave us the church, so that we can live through all the seasons of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 together. We are the body of Christ, and we are the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. May we be people that the make the world more like Jesus every day. As we do this we will continue to change and so will the world around us. May it be so. Amen.